Monday, April 09, 2007

"Why So Crazy (more than usual)?" you ask?

So here's the thing. No matter how well you know some music, it's always difficult when you've got to play alot of differing repertoire in a short amount of time. It's bad enough when you're playing in an ensemble, but it's a little more stressful when you're playing all by yourself. Of course, since you don't have the rehearsal process to help provide feedback on how you're playing, you just have to rely on how it feels, how your recorded practice sounds, and (if possible) what your colleagues tell you when you drag them into a practice room.

My response? This evening I tried to sit down and create a day-to-day to-do list for the next few weeks. I didn't get very far. Since I've also got to put a cd together over that time, I've also got to factor that in. Sadly, as the repertoire I've got to learn, perform, and record is all quite varied, I'm even going to have to plan out exactly what I'm practicing/recording on a given day just to make sure I get it all done in time. If I'm smart, I'll try to plan for a bit of free space in each session so I can take care of any problems that pop up. There won't be much extra time, I'm sure. Frankly, I don't think I'll have much extra stamina for more than is absolutely necessary.

I didn't feel too bad about not finishing my schedule tonight as I did finish other paperwork that I must email out tomorrow. (I love being able to edit .pdf files.) Also, nearly my entire day tomorrow will be consumed by Strauss, so I won't have alot of lip left for practicing that much. I can figure out my schedule between floggings...er...the rehearsal and concert.

I think I let myself get stuck in playing some old ugly reeds. Yuck. They're old....and ugly. Thank the FSM I have some others already in the system. I hope that's reason I've sounded like poo the past 2 days. My sound is quite ragged, rattling almost. It's too reedy and dry, but still in tune. In the past, such a problem could be the result of poor breathing habits or reeds. Right now, I'm praying that it's reeds. I love to be able to blame these things on reeds. Discovering basic breathing/embouchure problems really makes me feel like a doofus.

One of my most frustrating problems is my penchant for letting good habits slip and bad ones slip in. Nothing in my playing is so ingrained that it doesn't need constant vigilance. Pitch/Rhythm/tone/breathing/technique: all are suspect if I don't work on them daily. As I am not always organized about my practice session, sometimes these things slip more than they should. Hm...is this paragraph what a therapist would refer to as a "breakthrough"? Crap...now I've got to go and remedy my everyday practice sessions. Damnit... That's what I get for being self-aware.

One bit of solace: I'm daily trying to correct problems that I hear uncorrected in players every day. Does it make me feel better? Not much.